In the midst of chaos
by mouse angel
Summary: Murder sends a Kiara fleeing for her life. By a twist of fate she finds herself in Mirkwood where she meets Legolas. They will teach each other about life, love and death, but first Kiara will have to learn to trust him and come to term with her dark past
1. The trial

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Lord of the Rings. I only own what you can't find in any copyrighted material by Tolkien or material by other authors relating to his material.  
  
A/N: My third fic people. Guess there's not much more to tell you apart from me raving about Pirates of the Caribbean, which I will do now.  
  
I loved it. It was the best movie I have ever seen. Well maybe not the best, but it was as good as lotr, maybe better, we'll have to see. It was soooooo funny. I won't sit here quoting it cuz that would take a page. I've memorized nearly the entire movie and I've only seen it three times. The only bad part was the end when Orlando Bloom kissed that evil girl. At least it was only once.  
  
I think the names might be a bit off. I don't think that they're actual Rohan names, but oh well. Most of those names aren't that important of characters anyway. I liked the name Kiara people and I know it's not a Rohan name but I'm using it anyways.  
  
Anyways on with the story. Remember people: REVIEW!!!!!!!!  
  
Chapter 1  
  
A young girl watched as her father was dragged before the judge. The king sat upon his high chair, outfitted regally in clothes of rich scarlet and deep blue, adorned with silver and gold. He looked down on the disheveled man before him. The man wore ragged, torn clothes that he had obviously been wearing for some time. His hair was a mess, and he looked thin and malnourished.  
  
A man standing beside King Fengel announced the pathetic man. "Sir Belegvorn of Starkhollow." The king looked down upon the man, who knelt looking down at the floor. Éomer nodded, and the announcer continued. "You are accused of the murder of your wife. In mirror of your own crime, against she whom you swore to love and never hurt, your punishment will be death."  
  
Murmurs came from the watching crowd. Few were allowed to this tribunal, as was the way with any other tribunal; but those given permission to come always came, whether to defend or accuse the victim.  
  
"Noooo," a cried erupted from the young girl.  
  
"Miss Kiara, please hold your tongue," said the announcer. "You are -".  
  
Fengel raised a hand to silence him. "Speak, young lady, for you wish to say something, and I will not judge until all that will be said has been said. Come forward."  
  
Kiara stood up and made her way to the front of the room. She looked up at the king, who returned her gaze with emotionless eyes. He took no sides. He only judged.  
  
"Father did not murder my mother. We were hunting just outside our village of Starkhollow. It was midsummer's night and all were out feasting on the grounds of the king near the center of the village. All save my mother. She had fallen ill, and was resting in bed. Father and I went out to hunt so that we might cook her a nice meal. We did not wish that she miss out on the festivities of that night. I found some wild onions. I stayed to collect them and father went off to find a rabbit, which we had been hunting for. He was gone no more than twenty minutes, and returned to me with a rabbit, and a fine stewing rabbit, proof that he did not murder my mother."  
  
Another man stood up. "Permission to speak my lord," he asked, nodding towards Fengel. The king nodded and the man continued. "I do not wish to distort what this girl says for I believe that she tells the truth in her eyes. But I shall tell you, my good ladies and gentlemen, what I saw. I had come back to look for Reina, for I noticed that she wasn't at the celebrations, and neither was her husband and daughter. I went looking for them to invite them to the feast. When I got there I found the house empty and the door unlocked and unbarred. I decided that something was wrong, so I entered the house. I found Reina dead upon bloody sheets. Her throat had been slit."  
  
"That does not mean that I killed her," Belegvorn said hoarsely, for the rope around his neck was tight.  
  
"Everyone else was at the feast. Who else might have done such a thing?"  
  
"I have no motive for killing my wife," replied Belegvorn.  
  
"But there is no other that could have done such a thing, for I do not believe that the girl murdered her mother," said the man. "The motive was perhaps jealousy but I will not say that it is for sure, for I do not know."  
  
"You might have killed her," said Belegvorn.  
  
"I have no reason for killing Reina. I bear no grudge against her," said the man. He turned to Kiara. "What hour was it when your father left to hunt the rabbit, while you gathered onions?"  
  
"Dusk was coming on, but there was still light enough to see by," she replied.  
  
"You see, it could not have been me. I left the feast while the moon was rising the night was upon us. When I got to the house Reina was already dead. And there are many that were at the feast that can vouch for my whereabouts."  
  
Kiara only realized moments after the man had stopped speaking the trap that she had walked into. He was telling the truth because no one seemed to be contradicting him, but as long as he said that he had come after her father, it would be believed that Belegvorn killed his wife.  
  
One man near the back stood up. "Permission to speak my lord," he said nodding his head toward Fengel. Again Fengel nodded. "I will just say this, this that is my belief. Belegvorn is known for his quick temper, and it is known that he angers easily. Perhaps he might have killed his wife for the reason of a prior disagreement. Also Barathor," he nodded toward the man who had been persecuting Belegvorn, "is known to be a kind and gentle soul, always helpful and gracious. A fine man, I might add. It is my thought that he did not kill Reina and rather it was done by Belegvorn."  
  
There were murmurs of approval amidst the crowd.  
  
Another man stood up and asked permission to speak, and got it. "I can vouch for the whereabouts of Barathor. He was at the feast until just after the moon had peaked over the mountains. He said to me, 'I have not seen Reina, Belegvorn or Kiara tonight'. I hadn't noticed but when he mentioned it, I did notice that they weren't to be seen. Barathor said to me, 'I will go check on them. I do hope nothing has happened'. I told him that it was a good idea, and he left towards their house."  
  
Many more men stood up. Some confirmed what the second man had said, saying that they had seen Barathor at the feast and had seen him leave when the moon peaked over the mountain. Some voiced their thoughts on the innocence of Barathor.  
  
Only one spoke up in the defense of Belegvorn. "Permission to speak my lord," said the woman. Fengel granted it. " I do not believe that Belegvorn would do such a thing. He loved Reina dearly and would not harm her, under any circumstances."  
  
Fengel looked at her. "You are Etena, sister of Belegvorn." Fengel shot her a questioning glance.  
  
Etena looked confused, but nodded. This seemed to satisfy the king.  
  
"Is there anybody who wishes to speak?" asked Fengel.  
  
A few more men and some women spoke up, but none in the defense of Belegvorn.  
  
Finally all that was to be said had been said. Fengel stood up. "After what I have heard, it is my belief that Belegvorn is guilty of killing the lady Reina. For that his -."  
  
"No," Kiara cried again. "You do not know what you are doing it was not him. You cannot kill him. Please you must -."  
  
"Miss Kiara," the announcer said again. "You have already been given a chance to speak. Please hold your tongue." This time Fengel did not interrupt him.  
  
Kiara looked as if she was about to speak once more, but she sat down, dejected and beaten.  
  
Fengel continued. "Your punishment for this crime will be death. You shall be hung by the neck at high noon tomorrow."  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Kiara watched as her father was dragged up to the noose. He did not struggle. He came without a fight. Belegvorn knew he was beaten. Everyone had condemned him. The only allies he had left were his daughter and his sister.  
  
There was no possible chance of escape. His hands were tied behind his back and an escort of five guards marched beside and behind him.  
  
The announcer began. He read out the crimes of Belegvorn and his punishment. It was very formal. Everyone was silent, waiting for judgement to be doled out.  
  
The king stood near by. He watched with his second in command and his betrothed. All were hard eyed with expression of grim determination. Just below them stood Barathor, seeming almost happy at the sight of the pathetic Belegvorn. Kiara looked at him with pure hatred, and suddenly she knew why Barathor had left the festivities.  
  
Kiara looked back to the wooden landing where the noose hung. The executioner was hanging that terrible loop of rope around her father's neck. A look of terror entered his eyes as the rope encircled his neck, knowing that he only had a few more minutes to live. Kiara looked at him with despair and helplessness.  
  
Then the trap door was opened and Belegvorn fell. The rope tightened around his neck cutting off the air to his lungs. He struggled for a minute then went limp, and hung lifeless by his neck on that hateful platform.  
  
Kiara could bear no more. She took one last look at her father, then turned and pushed past the people blocking her way, not caring if they got hurt or not. She finally got past the crowd onto one of the little streets that led from the square. She ran home, tears rolling down her cheeks the whole way.  
  
When she entered the house, she raced to her room and threw herself down on her bed, and sobbed.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
A knock on the door made her look up. Barathor looked at her from her doorway.  
  
"You" Kiara hissed. "What do you want?"  
  
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I didn't want it to be this way, but Reina deserves justice for her murder." He looked at her with compassion. It looked forced though, like he did not want to show compassion, or had none.  
  
"My father did not murder my mother," she screamed.  
  
"I thought you might say that. It will take some time for you to come to terms with all of this," he said soothingly.  
  
"I know who murdered my mother," she said quietly to him. Her voice was deadly though. "And it was not my father."  
  
Barathor looked at her. In his eyes she saw hatred and a trace of fear, though he tried to mask his emotions with pity. She saw right through though. Their eyes met for no more than three seconds, then Barathor turned and left without another word.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A/N: Well I hope you guys liked that. If you did, remember to review and tell me. I always love reviews and I'm open to suggestions.  
  
Namaarie 


	2. Deadly night

Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings. I only own what you can't find in Tolkien's books or any other related works (like the movie).  
  
A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out. I finished it Labour (yes Labour is spelt with a u, stupid computer, it's not wrong, you just think it's wrong cuz ur on American spelling) day weekend, but since school started I haven't had that much time to type it up, wat with school and my teachers already loading me up with HW and watching lotr 4½ times in one week. That's really time consuming. Anywho. Here it is. And remember to REVIEW!!!!  
  
Chapter 2  
  
A dark figure stole silently through the dark streets of Starkhollow. It was clad in black, with a long black cloak meant for concealment. Beneath the long hood of the cloak its bright eyes were invisible. At it's side a long, thin, slightly curved dagger hung from a dark belt, barely visible beneath the dark cloak. The only revealing features were thin strips of silver on the pommel and hilt of the dagger.  
  
Kiara ran through the familiar streets of town towards the outer skirts of Starkhollow. She looked for the house. They were all very similar, but she knew which one it was.  
  
Kiara slipped into the shadows as two patrol guards doing their rounds approached, drawing her cloak around herself and her weapon. They would not think it odd to see her because it was her home town, but to be slinking around all dressed in black, far away from her own house, in the middle of the night would seem quite suspicious.  
  
Kiara let the guards pass then went to find the door. She tried the knob. It turned, but the door did not open. It was as she expected. Most people did not leave their doors open at night. She pulled out the thin dagger instead and inserted it in the keyhole. She tweaked it slightly, turning the blade this way and that, then shifting it to different positions. Still she heard no telltale click. Finally she was forced to pull out her dagger and conceal herself in the shadows as the guard returned.  
  
When they passed Kiara resumed her lock picking. After another little while of trying it became obvious that the door would not unlock. She cursed her stupidity. She had not expected the lock to be this complicated.  
  
She circled the house, looking for another door. She found one in the back, but once again she could not pick the lock. An experienced thief would have been able to, but Kiara had only practiced on her own door.  
  
She circled the house once more, looking for low windows that might offers an entryway. All of these were shut tight and barred.  
  
Although there were no ground floor windows open, Kiara noticed a higher window that had been left open while she was desperately trying to open the last of the low windows.  
  
The window was directly above the one Kiara was trying to open. It would be difficult to climb, but she could see a few places where the rock, out of which the house was made, that could be used as handholds. Quickly she plotted her ascent.  
  
The dark alley onto which the window faced was almost devoid of light and provided perfect concealment. She began to climb, first hoisting herself onto the window ledge. It was only about three feet off the ground, making the jump easy. She stood up on the ledge and clung to upper edge of the windowsill. It was only about four feet high, but it was thin and very difficult to grab hold of. She thrust her arms upwards, searching for handholds.  
  
The climb proved more difficult than she had imagined. Many of the handholds were small and difficult to hold onto. Eventually though, Kiara was able to grasp the inner sill of the upper window and haul herself through the window as quietly as she could.  
  
Kiara waited for a moment, letting her eyes adjust to the gloom in the room. When they did, she found herself in Barathor's bedroom.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Kiara nearly jumped back out the window in fright. She controlled herself though, and threw herself down to the floor, covering herself with her cloak and praying that he wouldn't see her.  
  
When, after waiting for many minutes, she heard nothing, Kiara decided that he hadn't heard her. Cautiously she raised herself, prepared to duck back out of sight at a moment's notice. She crept slowly over to the bed, trying not to make the floor creek as she stepped. As she approached, she slowly loosened her dagger from its hilt.  
  
To her surprise she found it empty. The covers were neatly brought up over the pillows as if no one had ever slept in it that night.  
  
This confused her greatly. It was two hours past midnight. Everybody should be abed at this hour. It did not hinder her though. She left the bedroom to search the rest of the house.  
  
A sound downstairs made her start. A key had been inserted in the lock. Her eyes widened as she realized that Barathor was not in the house at all. He had been out and was only just now returning. Where he had been she could only guess, but at that moment it wasn't important.  
  
Kiara stared down the flight of stairs at the door just to the right of it, unsure of what to do. It was taking Barathor a long time to open the door, most likely because she had fiddled with the lock when trying to pick it. The door finally opened and Barathor came in. She ducked into the hall behind a wall at the top of the stairs, waiting for Barathor to come up.  
  
For some time she heard him moving about downstairs. After she guessed about fifteen minutes, she heard the creaking of the stairs as Barathor began to mount to him room. Kiara crept farther into the shadow, drawing her cloak closer over her face and dagger hilt.  
  
Barathor's candle shone bright as he reached the landing. He glanced her way for a second, then just as he was about to turn to his own room, he looked harder in her direction, as if his eye had caught something. He was staring right at her. He held his candle up higher, trying to shed more light on the dark passageway.  
  
No, she thought fiercely. Go back the other way. Do not come here. Barathor took a step closer, squinting hard in the darkness. He frowned, looking at her, then shrugged and turned back to his own bedroom.  
  
Kiara breathed a sigh of relief. She could have accomplished what she had come here to do had he come to her, but she would have been less prepared. She wished to relish in her deed. It was hard fought for, and she didn't want to ruin it.  
  
She waited a long time - she did not know how long, but she guessed and hour - in the dark hallway. She sat absolutely still, not daring to move lest she disturb the creaky floorboards and make a noise.  
  
After an hour she rose slowly. The boards below her groaned in protest as her weight shifted on them. She crept slowly towards Barathor's room, pausing often to make sure her presence wasn't noticed. She cringed as the door creaked open. She waited to see if he moved, a hand on the hilt of her dagger.  
  
But all was quiet. In the chimney the embers burned low, still giving off a faint trace of heat and light. The candle had long since been extinguished. The window through which Kiara had entered was shut and the curtains drawn. Barathor slept quietly in his bed.  
  
Kiara thought about going over to the bed and simply stabbing him while he slept, but it would not satisfy her thirst for revenge. He would die too quickly, without knowing who killed him and why. And she wanted him to take a few parting words with him in to death. She wanted him to suffer as she had and to hear judgement dealt out before him as he died. He would hear these words and feel this pain in full consciousness.  
  
She needed to wake him up, but if he awoke now he would surely fight her. He might not have won, for she carried a blade, but he would not hear the words the he had to hear.  
  
Kiara looked around for something to tie him down with. There was no rope in sight. Again she cursed herself for not being prepared and not bringing any. In fact there was nothing resembling rope, no cords, no belts, nothing. The only thing she could think of was knotting the sheets together, but Barathor would surely wake up if his covers were thrown off.  
  
Her eyes searched the room frantically. There was a closet over to the side of the room that she hadn't noticed before. She opened it and found clothes, nothing more. But what she found delighted her. She pulled out the clothes and began slicing them into pieces with her dagger and tying the pieces together, pausing frequently to check to make sure Barathor still slept.  
  
It did not take her long to finish her task. Soon she had made two lengths of makeshift rope, one for tying Barathor to the bed, and the other for binding his hands.  
  
She slung the longer rope around his middle and pulled one end from under the bed and tied it loosely at the side, not wanting the sudden jolt to wake him if she pulled more tightly. He was sleeping on his side, and for that she was grateful. It made it much easier to tie his hands.  
  
This time she pulled tightly. His eyes snapped open. Kiara sprang to the side of his bed. As Barathor rolled on to his back to gape at his bonds, she tightened the rope about his middle, securing him to the bed.  
  
Barathor struggled against his bonds, and, though not quickly, he was succeeding in wriggling free. Kiara realized that she must act fast or the deed would not be done properly.  
  
She laid a hand firmly on his chest. His struggles lowed but they did not abate. She approached her head to his ear.  
  
"You killed my mother, and lied to kill my father," she whispered. "Now you will pay the price. Punishment for murder is death. Justice must be served."  
  
"I did not kill your mother," he lied urgently, trying to keep the fear and anger out of his voice. He was not very successful. "Why would I do such a thing?" His voice was shaking, though he was trying to be sincere, or trying to fake sincerity.  
  
"Murderer," she whispered fiercely. "She rejected your love out of loyalty and love for my father. And for that you killed her. Now you will suffer the same pain."  
  
Suddenly Barathor's face changed. It contorted into anger and hatred, and a spitting vicious monster was revealed. "You coward," he seethed. "You came to do justice and you can't even kill me in a fair fight. You tie me down. Can you not fight fair, or are you afraid whelp?"  
  
Kiara didn't show any reaction to his challenge. Her face remained as cold as before, her lips set in a hard line. "My mother was helpless when you killed her, as was my father. You are the coward. You lie and deceive and murder only to satisfy yourself. Now you will die the same way my mother did, helpless and unable to defend yourself."  
  
And then she plunged her dagger into his chest. The blade pierced flesh and bone, finally finding it's way to his black heart.  
  
Barathor gasped as the dagger entered his chest. He had not expected the whelp to actually go through with the murder. Even now he could not believe it, thought the pain told him otherwise. With that he tore the dagger from his chest and lunged at Kiara, only to be pulled back by the bonds. They came loose as he fell back. He lunged at her again, this time managing to rake a shallow cut across her chest. He tried once more, but fell back as he began to weaken and his senses became fuzzy in death.  
  
Dimly he could hear Kiara's icy voice. "Good bye Barathor. Justice has been served. Your debt is paid. We're square."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A/N: Yah so that's it. I promise there will be an update as soon as I can get it typed up, which knowing my schedule probly wont be for another month (cuz I made the volleyball team, and he was gonna cut but decided not to, yeah) and schoolwork and stuff. It's all ready and I'll keep writing but don't expect it 2morrow.  
  
Namarie 


	3. Flight

Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Ring or anything related to it. I do own everything else.  
  
A/N: So yah another chapter. Yeah. Soooo much schoolwork. It's gonna be hard keeping up by I will keep updating. Plus for English I have to write an original fic (yeah compulsory writing) so that will keep me pretty busy, but I will write my other stories in all the spare time I have. At first my friend told me it had to be only 4 pages and I was like NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!, then she said that 4 pages was minimum and 10 pages was more like it and I was like 10 pages yah right muhahahahaha!!!!!  
  
I may have mentioned Eomer in my first chapter. That's because I was orignally gonna use Eomer and post lotr, but then I decided the story would be better with King Fengel (it'll make more sense later, I assure you). So yah, Eomer is not supposed to be there. You can ignore that reference.  
  
Again names in this chapter are not Rohan name (there are no name generators for Rohan names and nothing really good in the books for their names (that I have read yet. I have read the entire trilogy twice times yet have still failed to read the appendixes. I will do that soon). And the names aren't really relevant either so it doesn't matter.  
  
I suppose no one wants to hear about my LOTR dream where I got hit by an arrow shot by Amy Lee fron Evanescence. I woke up before I actually died.  
  
Guess nothing else interesting has been going on that is of general interest. I saw a trailer for ROTK. I must see it. NOW. I hate my friend for sending it to me cuz I still have to wait another three months. NOOOOOO!!!!!!!  
  
And now the chapter! R&R!!  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Realization of her crime suddenly struck Kiara. Fear began rising in her chest. She grabbed her dagger from Barthor's limp hand, and cut the bonds around him to make her slightly less obvious. It was a very bad cover up.  
  
She fled out of the room, down the stairs and out onto the streets. They were silent and deserted, just as they had been an hour before, just as they should be at this time of night.  
  
Kiara headed to the stables taking all the back alleyways possible to avoid any encounters with the guards.  
  
The stables were locked but this she had expected. She threw herself into the shadows again as the guards passed by. The stables were well patrolled, but since there was only two sets of guards patrolling the entire town, there were always intervals between when each set of guards came by.  
  
As soon as the guards were out of earshot, Kiara peered through the crack that was formed by the two leaves of the door. A simple beam of wood set across the door barred this side. The other was locked with a more secure padlock.  
  
She inserted her dagger her long thin dagger in the crack just big enough for it, thanking the architect for this small design flaw. She lifted the dagger and met resistance. She lifted again and this time used more strength. Slowly the crossbeam came free of its holdings, and clattered noisily on the floor.  
  
Kiara opened the doors and slipped into the stable, closing the door behind her and replacing the crossbeam.  
  
The noise had sent the horses into a frightened frenzy. They neighed and pawed at the floor nervously. Kiara went to each of them holding their head and stroking them. They quieted at her touch, for she often came to the stables and the horses were used to her.  
  
She heard the guard had returned, and they were arguing about something. And, Kiara noticed, they had come back much quicker than it took to do the rounds normally.  
  
"I tell you there was someone here," said the first one. "I heard him, and I heard the horses."  
  
"And I say you're hearing things," argued the other. "Listen! Look! There is nothing here now and the door is still locked."  
  
Kiara heard rather than saw one of them pressing up against the door to peer in. She flattened herself against the door out of his line of sight.  
  
"Do you see anyone?" asked the skeptic guard.  
  
"No," replied the other. "But my vision is very limited in this crack. Can we not just open the doors and take a peek in."  
  
Kiara could feel the other guard getting exasperated. "Fine," he said tersely. "We will look quickly. We will not search the stables."  
  
They left the door and circled around to the building to the door that opened form the outside.  
  
Kiara had to hide. She tiptoed over to one of the horses and gave him a good slap. Kiara hated hurting animals, especially horses, but it was necessary. The noisy neighing of the frightened animal would cover up the noise of the creaky wooden stalls as she climbed into her horse's stall.  
  
She paused to look into the amber eyes of her horse, Raefal, as black as a starless sky. An understanding was met between horse and rider, and Kiara ducked behind the door of the stall.  
  
"Did you hear that?" asked the suspicious guard in a tense tone.  
  
"Yes," said the other, rolling his eyes. "But horse neigh a lot, and it does not mean that it was provoked by someone."  
  
The lock clicked and the door opened. One of the guards came in holding a lantern aloft. Kiara heard footsteps in the direction of the horse she had slapped.  
  
"Ow!" he cried. "He bit me." His companion sniggered and Kiara had to keep herself from doing the same. She had slapped a particularly bad tempered horse.  
  
"Hurry up and check the other stalls," grumbled the second guard impatiently.  
  
Slowly the light came towards Raefal's stall. Kiara kept herself against the door of the stall, drawing the black cloak closer about her.  
  
The guard held up the light as he reached her stall. He was about to move on when he stopped.  
  
"What" he muttered frowning as he looked harder into the half gloom. Kiara peered out from under her hood towards the light. She gasped. Her saddlebags were in the stall at the back, quite visible.  
  
"I see saddlebags," called the guard in the stable to the one outside. "And I thought I heard someone."  
  
He approached the stall to get a better view of the saddlebags. Raefal snapped. The guard pulled back. "Ha! Not this time you cheeky horse," he said.  
  
"Hurry up and finish the job," called the other guard from outside.  
  
"I'm sure I heard someone and there are saddlebags in this stall."  
  
With a sigh the outside guard came in. "Let's have a look," he said, beckoning his companion to give him the lantern. "Saddlebags in a horse's stall. Very out of the ordinary," he drawled sarcastically. Kiara heard him slap the suspicious guard.  
  
"How would you explain the gasp I heard," countered the other.  
  
"It might have just been a horse," he told him. "Horses make noise too." As if to prove him point, Raefal snorted, emitting a sound similar to Kiara's gasp. Kiara smirked, reminding herself to give Raefal a carrot before they left. "And those saddlebags look like Kiara's. This is Raefal, her horse. She is probably simply going out tomorrow. Come. Let's return to our post where we should be."  
  
The other followed reluctantly, glancing apprehensively back at the stall. Kiara sighed in relief as she heard the door close and lock. She stood up and patted Raefal. He snorted and nudged her back.  
  
Kiara saddled up and led him out of his stall by his reins. Once out of the cramped space, she strapped on her saddlebags and weapons (a sword and a long bow). She went over to the door and lifted the cross bar and set it down quietly and peeked out.  
  
Guards were coming down the street. She drew her head back in and waited for them to pass. Then she opened the door widely and led Raefal into the night. She shut the door behind her as best she could; it would not close properly as she could not replace the crossbeam, but there was nothing to be done for that.  
  
Kiara turned away from the doors to her awaiting horse. She mounted and rode swiftly towards the town gates.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
"Hail!" cried one of the guards at the gate, as Kiara approached. Normally it would not have been difficult or suspicious to leave the city, but at three and a half hours past midnight on a dark horse, openly carrying weapons, he had right to be suspicious. "Halt!"  
  
Kiara stopped and looked up to the wall where the guards were standing watch, but she did not speak. A mistake would have been revealing her voice, because it would have immediately been recognized as a woman's.  
  
"Who are you? Where are you going?" he asked.  
  
Kiara was forced to reply. "I am a messenger of the king," she cried in the best imitation of a male voice she could muster. "I must leave."  
  
"What message do you deliver?" he called back. His voice was no longer suspicious, but rather just curious.  
  
Kiara hesitated, debating a good fake message to have delivered. "A great host of Dunlanders were spotted."  
  
"How great?" Now there was a touch of anxiety in his voice.  
  
"Little over five hundred," she replied. "It is not too great a threat for the Rohirrim, but some were headed in this direction so it was deemed that you should be warned. And so you have been. I have spoken to your lord. He knows.  
  
"But know I must hasten away."  
  
"Will you not stay the night? The hour is late. Could you not leave in the morning?"  
  
Kiara cursed his polity generosity. "All haste is needed," she cried back. "There are more villages to warn and I must hasten back to my lord in the house of Meduseld."  
  
The guard accepted this, and descended the steps to open the gates.  
  
"Is that not Kiara's horse?" he asked.  
  
This question surprised her. She had definitely not expected it. She looked down at Raefal's black mane and stroked, contemplating her lie. "Yes Encali is very similar to one of the horses in the west stable, but I assured you he is my own," she said finally.  
  
The guard frowned, but accepted this reluctantly. She was thankful that either he hadn't noticed her sword and saddlebags or had simply failed to recognize the similarity between her own sword and the messenger's.  
  
"Farewell.." He awaited her name.  
  
"Arden." Another lie without planning.  
  
"Farewell Arden," he cried.  
  
"Farewell Jer -." She stopped herself, suddenly remembering that she wasn't supposed to know his name.  
  
"Jernas," he called in a slightly confused voice.  
  
"Farewell Jernas. May it be that you will not see battle."  
  
Then she turned Raefal north on the road and rode off towards Edoras, never to return.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A/N: You don't get a good author notes at the end this time. It's all in the beginning. Just review as always!!!!!!!!  
  
Namarie 


End file.
